Machine for manufacturing flat springs



June 16, 1964 M. SOUAYA MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING FLAT SPRINGS I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 15, 1962 MICHEL 36%??? ATTORNEY June 1964 M. SOUAYA 3, 3 ,325

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING FLAT SPRINGS Filed Oct. 15, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.4

W272i F192 L4; 16 xix). 17" O 6 16 Fr .5 1 16 9 if 17 INVEN TOR menu SOUAYA United States Patent 3,137,325 MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING FLAT SPRINGS Michel Souaya, 83 Rue Paul Vaillant Couturier, Maisons-Alfort, Seine, France Filed Oct. 15, 1962, Ser. No. 230,492

Claims priority, application France Nov. 4, 1961 1 Claim. (Cl. 140-89) I This invention relates to a machine formanufacturing flat springs.

Machines have been proposed for the manufacture of flat coil springs, starting from helical springs with abutting coils.

In these machines, the flat spring is manufactured by crushing or flattening successively the coils of the helical spring, in order to lay them. This crushing operation is effected through the intermediary of pinions and rollers between which the helical spring passes. However, because of this crushing, the flat springs thus manufactured have deep indentations reducing the mechanical resistance of the springs and also their elasticity.

Furthermore, in these manners of manufacturing flat springs, it is necessary to separate the abutting coils of the helical springs from each other before crushing or flattening them.

Finally, springs made by this method are not strictly flat and have a helical deformation which reduces or makes more difficult their utilization.

An object of the present invention is to obviate or mitigate these disadvantages.

The present invention is a method of manufacturing a flat spring from a helical spring, said method comprising feeding the helical spring in the direction of its axis and successively displacing the coil temporarily at the end thereof in a direction perpendicular to said axis.

The present invention is also a machine for manufacturing a fiat spring from a helical spring, said machine comprising means for feeding the helical spring in the direction of its axis and means for successively displacing the coil temporarily at the end thereof in a direction perpendicular to said axis. I

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of part of the machine, illustrating the device for displacing the end coil or spiral of the helical spring;

FIG. 3 shows the device in FIG. 2 in the working position;

FIG. 4 shows in front view the flat spring turned out by the machine of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 illustrates diagrammatically the manner of operation of the machine.

Referring now to the drawings, in obtaining a flat spring with coils or spirals by the method of the invention, firstly a helical spring 1 with abutting coils is disposed in a U-shaped slide 2.

The end coil 1 of this helical spring comes to bear against two rectilinear stops 3 and 4 set at a distance from each other and between which a vertically movable pusher or punch 5 is adapted to be accommodated. This punch 5 has at its lower end a notch 5 in which is adapted to be accommodated the coil which must be worked upon to obtain the flat spring 6.

The flat spring 6 is obtained by displacing successively the end coils 1 of the helical spring 1 perpendicularly to the axis of the helical spring. This displacement of the end coils 1 is eifected by the punch or pusher 5 sliding in slides 18 which keep it strictly in a true path.

A spring 7 is hooked to the upper end of the punch 5 and is fixed on a shank 8 secured to a lug or tongue 8. This lug 8 is itself secured on a plate 9.-supporting all the components of the machine. *A bracket 10 fixed on a lever 11 articulated at 11 comes to bear on the upper end of the punch 5. At its other end this lever 11 is connected at 11 to a rod 12 whereof the end 12 is bent at a right angle and lodged in one of the holes 19 of a disc 19.

This disc 19 is mounted on the shaft of an electric motor, or any other device (not shown in thedrawing) I which enables it to be set in rotation. Due to this rota-.

catory movement of the punch 5. This punch 5 returns in fact to its upper or raised position due to the presence of the spring 7 which draws it upwards against the lever The holes 19 in the disc 19 are spaced at different distances from the centre to permit movements of different amplitude of the punch or pusher 5. p

The guiding of the helical spring 1' in the vicinity of the punch or pusher 5 is effected by the plate 9, by an upper plate 13, by a lateral rod 14 and by a lower plate 15.

The face 15 of the propping plate 15 is set in the same plane as the face 5 of the punch or pusher 5 so that the face 5 can slide against the face 15 to form the oval of the coil of the flat spring 6. Similarly, the rectilinear stops 3 and 4 arranged parallel to the axis of the helical spring have their ends 3 and 4 set at a distance from the plane of the faces 5 and 15 equal to the diameter of the wire from which the helical spring is made. In this way, only the end coil of the helical spring can be deformed by the punch or pusher 5 to form the flat spring. This punch or pusher 5 coacts with the end 16 of a stop 16 in order to form the coil of the flat spring.

The stem 16 of the stop 16 is curved so that the flat spring6, on coming to bear with one of its faces on the said stem 16,, and with its other face on a roller 17, is slightly curved which, as a result of the elasticity of this flat spring 6, effects the automatic advance of the spring 1 in the direction of the arrow F (FIG. 1). In this way, as soon as the end coil 1 of the spring 1 is displaced to form the spring 6, the following coil comes to bear against the ends 3 and 4 of the stops 3 and 4 which hold it in position.

The manner of operation of this machine is as follows:

The end coil 1 of the spring 1 bears constantly against the stops 3 and 4 therefore on account of the curvature of the flat spring 6 produced on the one hand by the stem 16 and on the other hand by the roller 17. How

ever, this end coil 1 is slightly deformed initially, this deformation being caused by the work performed on the preceding coil.

When the punch or pusher 5 moves vertically from its top position downwards, the notch 5 comes to be engaged on the end coil of the spring 1 so as to cause it to descend perpendicularly to the axis of the said spring. The lower part of this coil then comes to abut on the end 16 of the stop 16 (FIGS. 3 and 5) the effect of which is to bring about the ovalization of the coil. The two dimensions of eachcoil are strictly constant since the gap left between the parts 16 and 5 is constant for each operation.

This end 16 of the stop 16 can be displaced vertically in order to be able to adjust the position of the end 16 according to the diameter of the spring 1 used and according to the ovality desired in the coil of the flat spring 6. I

Furthermore, it should be noted that in adjusting the vertical position of the end 16 of the stop 16, the action of the punch or pusher 5 on the coils being shaped will be modified, which has the effect of curving the spring 6 in its own plane according to the direction of the arrows F and F in FIG. 4.

Similarly, the stops 13 and 14 could be displaceable in a known manner, to make it possible to match the position of these stops to the diameter of the helical spring used. 7 7

When the pusher or punch S returns to its upper position after having shaped a coil, another end coil comes into position against the stops 3 and 4. During this movement in the direction of the arrow F, the coil which has just been shaped by the pusher or punch 5 is released from the end 16 of the stop 16, in order now to bear against the bent part 16 of this stop 16. The curvature of the flat spring 6 also makes it possible, if desired, to bend the spring 6 permanently, perpendicularly to the plane of this spring, in the direction of the arrow F (FIG. 2); For this purpose, the roller 17 is mounted on articulated arms 17 and 17 making it possible to bring it more or less close to the stop 16, in order to emphasize to a greater or lesser degree the curvature of the spring 6 in the direction of the arrow F This machine makes it possible to obtain very regular flat coil springs, directly, starting from helical springs with abutting coils. Furthermore, these springs can be either rectilinear or curved in the desired direction, by modifying the position of the stops of the machine.

Moreover, this machine can be used for helical springs of diiferent diameter, and can displace the coils singly or in pairs or in greater numbers, with each reciprocating mo tion, according to the adjustment of the stops.

I claim:

In a machine for the manufacture of flat springs from a helical spring with abutting coils, adjustable guides and stops to guide the extreme coil of the helical spring under the point where the flat turns are formed, a punch above the extreme coil to be formed, means for etfecting reciprocating rectilinear movement of the punch perpendicularly to the axis of the helical spring, a curved track for receiving the formed fiat spring and a roller,

the position of which can be varied, urging the said flat spring to bend round the said curved track to cause, by an elastic reaction, the automatic forward feed of the helical spring at each upward return stroke of the punch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,235,698 DeMillar Mar. 18, 1941 

